Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako reports that the people of Iraq were “very afraid” for their country’s future in light of violent clashes around Baghdad this week.

The Iraqi prelate said that Shi’ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr was probably surprised by the violence, which arose when some of his supporters attacked government buildings in protest, after al-Sadr announced that he would withdraw from political life. The Chaldean leader said that al-Sadr had consistently counseled against violence.

Patriarch Sako thanked al-Sadr for issuing a public call for his supporters to back away from confrontations. He joined with the Shi’ite leader in saying that only democratic votes could settle Iraq’s political future, ”because the terrible alternative is civil war.”